Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 22: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the implications of the most recent developments in relation to the US – India nuclear agreement and the International Atomic Energy Agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2863/11]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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During his visit to India in November 2010, President Obama issued a Joint Statement with Indian Prime Minister Singh which addressed, inter alia, India's possible membership of four multilateral export control regimes: the Wassenaar Arrangement, the Australia Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Ireland is a member of all four bodies. Of the four, the NSG is of critical importance aiming as it does to prevent nuclear proliferation by regulating the export and transfer of nuclear materials.

In India, President Obama pledged US support for Indian membership of the four regimes in a "phased manner" and promised US engagement to encourage the evolution of regime membership criteria, "consistent with maintaining the core principles of these regimes". The US has indicated that it would welcome the opening of discussions of NSG membership for India at the Group's next plenary meeting in mid-2011 but has not yet brought forward any proposals. For our part we acknowledge the merit of having an agreed mechanism that would allow for cooperation with India in areas that would benefit the NSG as a whole and we will carefully consider all ideas as to how this could be achieved.

Deputies will be aware that nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and strengthening of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty have been long-standing foreign policy priorities for successive Irish Governments. As the Deputy will recall, Ireland reluctantly joined consensus at the NSG in September 2008 on a US proposal that NSG Guidelines be amended to allow for civilian nuclear trade with India, which has not joined the NPT, one of only three States not to do so. While we made clear at the time our appreciation of the strong reasons which had led the Indian Government to seek a secure and plentiful supply of energy in order to address poverty and promote development, we also expressed concerns about the implications for the NPT.

We stated that we expected India to honour all the commitments it made at that time, and that any breach of them would require the NSG to review its decision. Among those commitments was the conclusion of a Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) together with an Additional Protocol. I welcome the fact that these agreements are now in place. These will allow the IAEA to verify that certain declared Indian nuclear material and facilities are used for peaceful purposes only.